Behind the Mask
by Unlimited Depths
Summary: Showing who you are can be hard. Sometimes it is even harder when you wear a mask.
1. Chapter 1

"You know, he roars a lot for a lizard. You would think he would hiss more, or at least give a hissstory." Chat muttered.

"Focus, Kitty Cat, we need to work on saving the victims and to find the Akuma. Make speaking puns later."

"Of course, Princess." Chat cheerfully agreed, "Perhaps it is in the head piece?"

Ladybug looked, narrowing her eyes in an attempt to see further and clearer. "Maybe, but I can't tell if it is a headdress that houses the Akuma or an embelishment made by the Akumatization process. It could also be the lizard tooth necklace."

Chat nodded, seeing the point. "I can only use Cataclysm once, whats the plan?"

"Let's try the necklace first, you shouldn't need Cataclysm for that." Ladybug said, before tossing her red and black spotted yo-yo into the air, calling out, "Lucky Charm!"

In the air, hearts fluttered out of the yo-yo before turning into a large can of spray lubricant. She held it in her hands before glaring at Chat. "No comments."

He held up his gloved hands, each finger clawed. "I would never say anything inappropriate like that we need to get something slick."

"Not helpful." Ladybug muttered as she looked around. She smiled as she saw a pair of scissors on the ground. She continued to let her eyes dart here and there, before seeing a hole in the street where construction was on-going.

"See the hole over by the construction?" Ladybug asked as she tossed him the can.

"Yep, want me to get him stuck?"

"That would help. I will go for the necklace as you do."

Chat Noir saluted, "I hear and obey, Princess!"

"Switching things up then?" Ladybug asked as she leapt forward, picking up the scissors as she rolled.

The chuckling blond black cat extended his staff to leap over the Akumatized Lizard. As he landed, he shook the container and sprayed it all over the ground. When he was done, he stood on the far side of the hole and tapped the ground with his staff a couple of times. "I hear your mother is a hamster and your father smelled of berries!"

Ladybug shook her head as the lizard turned towards the loud and sometimes annoying Chat. As the lizard neared, Ladybug got ready to jump. A clawed foot stepped on the slick ground and immediately slid forward. Front foot sliding directly into the hole as Chat leapt backwards.

Ladybug jumped onto the lizard's back and soon cut the necklace off. As she did, a shimmering black and purple butterfly floated out.

"No more evil doing for you little Akuma." Ladybug said as she used her yo-yo to capture the Akuma.

She tapped on the yo-yo when it returned to her and away flew a pure white butterfly. Ladybug took a deep breath before tossing the can of lubricant into the air, calling out "Miraculous Ladybug!"

As the world returned to order, and the giant lizard shrunk back into the size of someone's pet the two superheroes bumped fists. "Pound it!"

Ladybug's earrings gave a short beep just for her as one of the spots flickered out. "Well Chat, I would say it has been a pleasure, but you know it is just business."

"You wound me, Princess. With you my life is a pleasure."

Ladybug arched an eyebrow at him. "You may want to rephrase."

Chat scratched under his chin, standing up straight. "No, I said what I mean and I mean what I say. Unless and until I don't."

The young man grinned sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I mean, yeah."

"Don't bother explaining, I don't want to know." Ladybug said as she threw her yo-yo inhumanly far to the roof of nearby building. As she started away, Chat sighed.

"Sure, bug out when I am being a dork. Just purr-fect."

With that, he used his pole to start leaping away on the Paris rooftops as well. Not chasing her, of course not, cats are not so needy. No, he needed to head home as well. It was just in a similar direction.

Ladybug shook her head as she disappeared into the Paris nights, electing not to mention her thoughts on the matter. After all, Chat was a good kid, very helpful.

/\/\/\/\/\

Marinette Dupain-Cheng slipped in the back door of her family's bakery and up the stairs to the Dupain-Cheng home above. The bakery, the Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie, was fairly quiet. After all, it was almost suppertime and most shoppers had returned home. Marinette was just glad she hadn't been supposed to work and could focus on the Akuma today. The attack's were fairly nice most of the time like that, not always though.

Marinette always appreciated when Akuma attacks didn't interfere with class at the College Francoise Dupont. That and with an early afternoon attack, she would have most of the evening to do homework. Unlike those midnight attacks where she needed to haul herself out of bed to respond to the threat.

The days after were never as peaceful as she would like, thought to be fair some of that was her inability to work on short sleep very well. She could, but it was not ideal.

Though anytime an Akuma attack cancelled a test was a good time.

She had a wonderful dinner with her mom and dad, hugging them before heading to her room.

Out of her small handbag, a small creature floated out. The creature was about six inches tall and had small wings, but a big head. "Well, Marinette, it seemed like things went well today."

Marinette smiled at her Kwami. "Yeah, Tikki, I agree. And once I get done with my homework, we can get moving on those couple of gifts."

"It isn't even the holidays though."

Marinette shrugged, "Sometimes, people just need a bit of a pick me up."

As she spoke, she pulled out her math and literature homework. Sitting down at her desk, she started to work on math. It wasn't that she was bad with it, no she was a good student across all topics and her designing needed a good amount of math involved.

That didn't mean she enjoyed the homework or class. Math was, at best, confusing, especially the word problems. Marinette didn't know anyone who liked those, not even Max and he loved math. Still, she needed to finish these up and so she settled in.

That was the nice thing about Akuma attacks. They regularly only occurred once every few days. Having the time to focus on other issues was wonderful, otherwise it would be a lot harder to juggle.

Still, homework was never fun. It was homework. It took a while, but nothing too bad. She smiled softly to herself as she packed her bag for the morning. When she was done, she pulled a sketchbook out. The bound book had blank pages and she thumbed through previous designs until she came upon an empty page.

"Alright Tikki, I want to make some thing for Mom and Dad, Alya, Nino, and of course, Adrien."

The ladybug kwami floated over, watching as Marinette pulled out a pencil. "Who are you going to start with?"

Marinette leaned back in her chair, spinning it around once. "Mom and Dad are easy, I am going to make them matching shirts. They love that. I think I have a design in there for them. Alya always loses her scarfs running after me and Chat, a replacement would be good."

She tapped the pencil against her lip, before turning back a few pages where a pattern of ladybug spots inside claw marks from a cat's claws was highlighted. Letting her pencil lightly touch the bottom of the page, Marinette quickly sketched out the outline of a scarf before looking at the pattern carefully. "This will work great."

She turned back to the blank page, "Nino could use some gloves. That will be pretty easy, but I will need to come up with a pattern later. Adrien is the hard one, he pretty much has everything."

"He seemed to really like the scarf you made him," Tikki said.

"I guess he did. Ah, Alya should have something fox themed instead. She looked really powerful as Rena Rouge." Marinette muttered, starting to sketch again.

Her pencil darted around the blank page, and soon she had drawn a pair of gloves. It was not obvious, but there was definitely a fox inspiration with nine tassels in orange tipped in white hanging from the wrist. The gloves were mostly black, with the Ladybug print cat scratch on the back of the hand and grey tipped finger pads. "What do you think?"

Tikki smiled, "She will love it. Why grey?"

"It will be of that fabric that communicates touch to the phones, so she doesn't need to take off the gloves to film or anything."

"She might wear them all the time."

Marinette smiled before she turned the page. "Right, so Adrien. I won't do something bird inspired. He is allergic after all, he was so awesome wearing that hat anyway."

Tikki didn't respond, just watched her friend.

After a moment, Marinette's pencil danced across the page and she turned it around. On the page was a hat. Seemingly designed as woven, the wide brim seemed to droop in the front. Still, it had a clean line and didn't seem too strange to wear. The dark grey was about as far away from Adrien's bright hair as possible.

"I don't get it." Tikki said.

"Adrien gets recognized all the time, his face is all over the place as a model. Remember that time we had to help him hide from his fans? This hat doesn't scream model and the brim should shade his eyes. Hopefully it would make it so he can go out undetected."

Tikki nodded, "Ahhh, yeah, that sounds very thoughtful."

Marinette sighed, putting the sketchpad down before looking over at the clock. "Not the reception I was hoping for, but it is starting to get late. I guess I will get materials tomorrow, I don't really have what I need for any of these projects. And I guess I need to rework Nino's and Adrien's. I mean, I don't know if I should do gloves for both Alya and Nino."

The young girl stood up, stretching. "Tikki, is it wrong that I want to focus on being friends with Alya and Nino, getting to know Adrien better, and worrying about homework?"

"No, not at all. It is something every Ladybug has had to deal with in some form."

The young girl took a breath before leaning on her windowsill, looking out over Paris. "Did any of the other Ladybugs run away?"

Tikki hummed a moment before shrugging behind Marinette's back. "Sometimes. This is not an easy calling. Many of the Ladybugs have struggled to understand why it was down to them to stand up. Some struggled with the fighting, others with the understanding they needed to do something against their culture. I and the Masters tried to choose as best we could. All of you were chosen due to your kindness and dedication. Every Ladybug has had some regret and concern, but all of them did their duty."

"Sometimes, normal sounds so good. But, really, I am falling in love with being Ladybug."

Tikki smiled and bounced in the air. "Really?"

"Yeah," Marinette nodded, "I mean, we have been doing this for a while, and while Captain Hardrock in particular was difficult, mostly we have been helping people. It seems like we are able to do so much every day for so many people. Being Ladybug and being Marinette seems to be becoming less of a difference every day and I am looking forward to seeing the new Marinette I become."

"That is so awesome! What do you think about Chat Noir?"

Marinette slipped over to her bed where she flopped into the fluffy covers. "He is definitely nicer and kinder then I initially thought he was. He tries, which is fantastic. I mean, I could live without his cat puns and jokes, and his flirting can be a bit much. Still, I wouldn't change it for anything."

Tikki landed on Marinette's chest, "And Adrien?"

"I am glad I have gotten to know him a bit better. I mean, the more I see of him, the more I can see he is lonely. I don't know why and really it doesn't matter. If he wants to talk about it, I will be there for him. I am glad I can be there for him and to be his friend." Marinette blushed, "Plus he is really cute and yeah."

She stopped talking, hands covering her bright red face.

Tikki shook her head, "Marinette, you need to take some of that courage you talked about having and talk with Adrien. You might be surprised."

The dark haired girl chuckled before responding, "Maybe, but I just want him to be happy and I think the best way for me to do that right now is to be his friend."

The two continued to talk into the night, watching the stars peak out from behind the clouds.

/\/\/\/\/\

Ms. Bustier tapped the spine of the textbook on the table in front of the classroom, calling the students to order. "Alright class, today we are looking into the manner in which Louise Labe spoke directly to the hearts and souls of the populace. Ms. Bourgeois, if you would please read the poem of the day?"

Chloe huffed, muttering "fine, fine" as she stood up. She took a breath and read to the class:

"Long-felt desires, hopes as long as vain-

sad sighs-slow tears accustomed to run sad

into as many rivers as two eyes could add,

pouring like fountains, endless as the rain-

cruelty beyond humanity, a pain

so hard it makes compassionate stars go mad

with pity: these are the first passions I've had.

Do you think love could root in my soul again?

If it arched the great bow back again at me,

licked me again with fire, and stabbed me deep

with the violent worst, as awful as before,

the wounds that cut me everwhere would keep

me shielded, so there would be no place free

for love. It covers me. It can pierce no more."

"Very nice, Ms. Bourgeois, thank you. Next time, remember to consider the intent of the piece. This is a young woman writing about losing a deep connection, a potential eternal love. With this loss, she is hoping she can find a similar connection and worried that such deep love is a once in a lifetime emotion. Something, I am sure, most of us will experience in our lives. Poetry is always trying to say something, when we perform it, such expression is our goal. Now, Ms. Dupain-Cheng, if you would, please tell us a bit about the piece."

Marinette stood up, scuffing her feet as she did. "Long Felt Desires is on of Madam Labe's sonnets. There are some interpretations of the piece indicaiting the meter is iambic pentameter, but others argue there is an irregular meter. At fourteen lines, it makes a point and concludes rather quickly."

"Thank you, Ms. Dupain-Cheng. Now, let's move on to hear what some of you think of the piece. Mr. Agreste? Your thoughts and impressions?"

Adrien jerked up, running a hand through his blond hair, "It seems to me this is a sad poem. Madam Labe seems to be trying to find hope while mourning. Some ray of a future good to help her get through the immediacy of the loneliness and regret."

Before he could continue, the building started to shake. Ms. Bustier sighed, "Alright class, clearly there is going to be an issue. In case we don't get there in the rest of the period, I want an essay deconstructing any of Madam Labe's works by Friday. Normal standards and guidelines. Now,"

She paused, turning towards the window. Her eyes seemed to widen and she dropped to the floor. As she did, a giant spike smashed through the window and pierced straight through the classroom to the door. Marinette and her classmates all got up, starting to move.

From under the spike, Ms. Bustier called out, "Everyone get down! We have no idea how this attack will go."

As if precient, more spikes started to come. First, in the back of the room behind any of the students and essentially locking the second door. All the students got flat on the ground, covering their heads as window after window shattered.

When it was all over, Ms. Bustier and the students all crawled under and over the spikes. It was Alya who broke the silence. "Well, the only way out now is through the ceiling and I don't think any of us can get up there. At least not alone."

Every window and door had been speared by the spikes. Marinette looked around, even the windows to the inside were inaccessible. Alya was right. They were trapped. Ladybug couldn't save the world, not if Marinette couldn't figure away out of it.

"I hope there isn't a fire." Rose said, leaning into Juleka, "It seems like it would not be good."

"I am sure Ladybug and Chat Noir will deal with the villain soon enough. " Alya said, crossing her arms. "I posted on the Ladyblog last night that it seemed like we had all the attacks for the week. Clearly I was wrong. Still, I hope Ladybug is in good shape and can take this loser down."

As she spoke, she didn't notice Marinette starting to move around the room. Maybe there was some way, some otherwise hidden way she could lead a couple of them out and slip away. But it was no good. The spikes were well placed, walls not buckling or breaking. The spikes were rough, but rather consistent in diameter. There was not even a way to crawl between a spike and the window frame.

Anything not directly spiked had a spike so close as to make it useless. She reached out to the nearest spike and touched it. It seemed to be some kind of resin, a hard with kind of a rolling feel to it. Not rough, or scratchy, but definitely not smooth. There was no mucus or gunk. She tapped the spike, but there was just a very slight thump. Solid.

Marinette sighed, "Alya, I just hope the attacker left. We are completely trapped, there is no way to destroy these spikes. I mean, maybe the boys could chip it away, but that would take a lot of time and I am not sure how hard it really is. Probably the only thing you could upload to the Ladyblog now is that we are completely stuck and probably so is a good deal of Paris."

"No uploading anything, Ms. Cesaire." Ms. Bustier said, "Now I am not going to try and get you lot to focus on class, but do remember, you are in a school. We are safe for now, so we need to be patient."

Marinette rubbed her forehead with a pair of fingers. If she couldn't leave the room, would she have to transform while in here? Could Master Fu deal with the problem on his own? He couldn't cleanse the Akuma, but if he broke the spell long enough, she should be able to join the fight.

"When my Father hears about this, he will definitely get us out of here," Chloe said as she pulled her phone out and quickly called her day. "Hello, Daddy, another one of those creatures attacked and now we are stuck in our classroom. We are easy targets, there is no way we could escape a second attack."

She paused, blinking her heavily painted eyes before shaking her head and swinging her ponytail enough to knock her large designer sunglasses from the top of her head to cover her eyes. "What do you mean, you are stuck too? How does that stop you from helping me? The police are mostly stuck too? What does this creature have a fetish for trapping people?"

Again she paused before, "Thank you, Daddy, I love you too."

She hung up and tucked her phone in her small purse. "Well, the entire city is useless. I mean, just because emergency services have all been trapped doesn't mean that they can't come and safe us. We are just going to have to wait for help from outside Paris apparently."

Marinette, near the back of the group took a deep breath before slowly releasing it. She pulled her own phone out of her backpack, sitting down at her desk. Instead of calling someone, she typed out a couple of messages through an app to connect with her Ladybug device fairly quickly.

[LB – Chat, trapped in public, can't transform. Tying to find some help. You?]

[LB – Master, trapped in classroom with others. Can't transform in secret. PLS Advise.]

She tapped out of the Ladybug persona and back into herself before reaching out to her mom.

[MDC – Mom, trapped in classroom, unhurt. You okay?]

With that, she closed her phone, looking up to see Alya typing away herself. Marinette leaned forward. "What should we do?"

"Wait, I guess." Alya replied.

/\/\/\/\/\

Adrien ran a hand through his golden locks, Nino, sitting on a spike near the pacing boy spoke up. "You doing okay, man?"

That message from Ladybug, he knew she was his same age, but both of them were trapped? That wasn't good. He of course had responded fairly quickly.

[CN – Same. Trying to find a way out.]

He shook his head, no use worrying about Ladybug, he needed to get out of here.

"Adrien?"

"Sorry, yeah, you've seen my room, right? Lots of light? This is just close and dark and it is kinda freaking me out. What about you? You alright?"

"Yeah, man, I am doing just fine. This kinda thing just happens, you know. I mean, never been trapped like this before but hey whatever."

Nino paused, adjusting his red cap, "What about you Alya, how are you doing?"

The tan girl turned to face the two boys, arching an eyebrow as she crossed her arms across her stomach. "What, don't you think I can't handle something like this?"

"Sure, but Adrien is spazzing out over here and I can see Marinette's foot tapping incessantly from here. At least, I wanted to check in." Nino said with a shrug.

Adrien looked over and saw the tapping pink shoe. He slipped under the spike and kneeled down to Marinette, who was sitting under the desk, phone clutched in her hand. "Hey, Marinette."

She smiled wanly at him, having not heard from the person she wanted to hear from the most at the moment – Master Fu.

"Hey Adrien, you going to be okay?"

She wanted to do something, to act, to save the world, to be Ladybug. But. The big but, she was not allowed to reveal her identity. If she did so now, her entire class would find out. What would Ms. Bustier think? What about Chloe, after all Ladybug was her hero and Marinette was a pain? Or Alya? Nino? Adrien? The others?

She couldn't, she had to find a different way. Hopefully, Master Fu would have an idea.

Adrien snorted, "Well, I don't like small spaces, which is what the classroom has become, but yeah I will make it through. I was just going to ask you the same thing. Are you going to be alright?"

Marinette nodded, turning a nice shade of pink. She wanted to give him a hug, but thought it would be too much in the situation. "I will be okay, small spaces aren't fine. I just wish I could do something."

Before Adrien could continue, their discussion was interrupted by Chloe. "Come on losers, do you have to be so pathetic? I mean really, the disaster is I was supposed to have an appointment at the Salon today. I doubt I will be able to make it. Anyway, Adrikins, why don't you come talk with me instead?"

She grabbed him around the back of his shoulders giving him a big hug.

Nino rolled his eyes. "Chill Chloe. None of us are going anywhere."

"I am just being nice."

"Hard to tell." Alya muttered under her breath, a sentiment Marinette agreed with.

"Waiting is hard." Marinette said, "I would much rather do. Even at home, I do. I make things, I study, you know, all of that. But waiting? That is just a different form of torture."

"I get that completely," Adrien said, having given Chloe a small, tight smile before focusing on Marinette. "To me the worst part of waiting is it makes you feel in on yourself. Add in the dim and the small of the room. Well, it all adds up doesn't it?"

Alya, sat down against the wall, pulling her knees up. She leaned her head on her knees, keeping her friends in her line of vision. "Waiting, yeah, I see the torture. Anyway, hopefully Ladybug and Chat Noir will deal with this problem soon and we can all get on with our lives."

From above and behind, Le Chien Kim leaned on the spike. "Yeah, but normally they have a better response time. What happens if they can't help? I mean, maybe Ladybug is trapped and Chat is having to rescue her? We could be in a situation were we are stuck her forever."

"Not helping, bro." Nino snapped, "Either we hope or we do something."

"There is a statistically significant probability that Ladybug and Chat Noir will not retain a one hundred percent success rate. After all, the heroes have to be good and fight well every time. Any villain only has to succeed once." Max commented.

Adrien looked up and noticed most of the class was clustered around, talking and trying to work things through.

Juleka mumbled, from behind her long hair. "And this is just boring, I mean we don't even know where the attacker is now."

Rose nodded, leaning in slightly to Juleka, "I know, and while I do have snacks for everyone, they are just snacks. I mean, I made chocolate chip cookies."

"I am sure things will work out just fine if there are cookies." Adrien said with a smile as he stood up.

Alix tapped Adrien on the shoulder. "I don't blame you for pacing. It is hard to be still, especially in this small of space."

She had been pacing as well if Adrien remembered.

Marinette smiled softly from beneath the desk as she saw Ivan holding Mylene. The class continued to talk, moving on from the life threatening to small talk about classes. Adrien saw Marinette checking her phone every now and then, but made no comment.

/\/\/\/\/\

Marinette glanced at her phone again. Finally, it had buzzed with an incoming message. And it was on her Ladybug connection.

[Fu – Was defeated, need LB and CN.]

[Fu – You must transform.]

Marinette frowned, [LB – I can't. In my classroom with all my friends.]

The text seemed to hang endlessly in the air. A moment passed. There was no way to tell if it was a full second or an eternity or something in between.

Her phone buzzed again. [Fu – Miraculous Ladybug may fix with everything else.]

[Fu – even if not, no other options.]

[Fu – Good luck, Ladybug]

Marinette took a deep breath, closing her phone. She slipped out from under the desk. She noticed Ms. Bustier had fallen asleep, leaning against the teacher's desk. A couple of other students were sleeping as well. But all of her friends and classmates who had been akumatized were awake and chatting. There was going to be no hiding this. She closed her eyes and looked at the ceiling. Ladybug should be able to bust through.

It didn't matter. It was the only option.

"Tikki, Spots on."

14 of 14


	2. Chapter 2

"Tikki, Spots on." Marinette said, strongly and with confidence. However, unlike normal, her eyes were closed.

Adrien, Alya, Nino and the others all turned to look at her.

From her feet, a red bodysuit seemed to consume her pink flats and jeans. It crawled up her finger tips and soon she was in full Ladybug costume, with the last action being her mask concealing her face around her eyes.

She took a deep breath, looking around, and seeing her friends all staring at her with mouths slightly agape.

She looked up, "Right, through the ceiling?"

It was a question she muttered to herself as she tried to ignore the looks of her classmates. She squatted down to jump up to the highest point when she heard a male voice start to speak.

It was Adrien, but there was a familiar tilt to it, a growl.

"Plagg, Claws out."

Marinette turned her head to look and saw a very similar transformation take place. Instead of a red and black suit, Adrien was clothed in black pleather and a tail like whip trailed from his belt. He smirked as his ears appeared and his mask covered the top of his face. He spun his staff around and put it behind his neck, wrists holding it in place.

"Well, bugaboo, it looks like we might have a lot to talk about."

"Later, kitty cat. First, there is a bad guy to beat. Ceiling or wall?"

"I could cataclysm a spike. Would have to recharge, but you would be freed up."

Marinette shook her head. "The interior wall would be weaker, can you bust through it? We may need the cataclysm when we arrive on scene, same with Lucky Charm."

Adrien, no, Chat Noir titled his head towards each shoulder, stretching slightly. "Let's find out. I always wanted to destroy the school."

/\/\/\/\/\

The Akuma victim hadn't actually been too difficult to defeat once they broke out of the classroom. That had been something. Honestly, it had been quite noisy and woke up the rest of the class and Ms. Bustier. The ramifications were going to be absolutely massive.

Marinette and Adrien, once out of the classroom had leapt over the Paris skyline. It was a quiet trip, the need to focus on the task at hand outweighing the desire to ask so many questions.

A brief fight in a park and the young man was free of his curse.

The two had made their way back to the classroom and while it seemed none of the normal students or teachers noticed, those with some experience as a super villain definitely did. As class officially let out for the day, the two were cornered.

Marinette, being a bit more reasonable, reminded them they all had somewhere to go, do, or otherwise occupy themselves with that afternoon. Instead, she suggested they meet up over the weekend to discuss the revelation. Luckily, the group agreed.

It was going to be a fairly kind interrogation, hopefully.

Still, there was another question and answer session to be held. The two superheroes didn't talk about it at all, they both knew they would be at the same place that night.

As soon as it was dark, the two transformed and slipped out of their homes. Darting across roof tops and keeping to shadows, the two were soon sitting on a cross strut of the Eiffel Tower. Around them, the City of Lights shown in the calm joy from after an akuma attack.

Ladybug and Chat Noir sat in silence for a good while. There was so much to say, and at the same time, they knew enough. Marinette was Ladybug and Adrien was Chat Noir. They were out there and they saved the world. Or at least Paris and that was more than enough. What more did they need?

"What are we going to do, Chat?" Ladybug asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

Chat looked at her, "What do you mean, Princess?"

She shook her head, "I am no princess, I am just a Baker's Daughter."

"You are my princess." Chat interrupted.

"You are so far above me, socially, politically, everything."

Chat took a moment, before he responded, "You know, when I called you an everyday Ladybug, I had no idea. But, the truth is, you are Ladybug all the time. You stand up for people, even me."

He paused, as if knowing she wouldn't say anything, while he collected his thoughts. "There are days when being Adrien Agreste is really hard. Days when my Father has dominated every waking minute. Days when my fans really take over everything, stopping me from enjoying anything. Remember the day we hid in the theater?"

Chat smiled at her, leaning forward putting his elbows across his knees. "You did everything you could have and more to save me. I really appreciated it then and I still do. My dad may have a lot of money and I may inherit it someday, but right now, my friends are more important than any of that. You included more than anyone."

Ladybug tucked her head, unsure of how to reply.

Adrien let it sit for a few minutes before speaking again. "Honestly, I probably shouldn't call you Princess."

Marinette's head jerked up as she waited for the bad news to drop.

"You are more than that. You are a hero, mask on or off. My lady, trust me, you are amazing."

"You are pretty amazing yourself. Even if your Dad makes you do things, you almost always make time for Nino and Chloe. And you are a pretty awesome Chat Noir. I couldn't imagine anyone else being able to take up your mantle." Marinette said.

"Sometimes," Adrien said, "Sometimes, that big house feels smaller than the classroom today. Father is, well, remember when I told you I had never been to school before? I was honestly thrilled to go a second day. Thrilled to go to school. That is, according to Nino, just wrong."

"Well you dork, it kind of is wrong. But I get it. There are things in my day to day life that are simple or overlooked for someone else, but to me, they are everything." She paused, "I am glad we are talking as Ladybug and Chat Noir. As Marinette, I would be tongue tied and blushing. There is no way this conversation would have been intelligible."

Chat laughed and laughed and laughed. Finally he gasped his breath back and responded, "Adrien would be useless. He would be so embarrassed about being happy to sneak out of his house to throw himself into danger. As Chat, this is just what I do and I love it."

Ladybug nodded, "In that vein, we are going to have to talk to our class as Marinette and Adrien. Do you think we can handle it?"

He grinned at her, "We are superheroes, my lady. We can do anything!"

She shook her head at his very Chat Noir response.

Before she could reply he put a hand on her shoulder and she froze. "We save the world and that is not exactly safe. They will understand, at least most of them will. Besides, they are our friends. I am sure they are just surprised. I mean, we did transform right in front of them. On that note, why did we transform right in front of them?"

Marinette pulled out her communicator, which brought up the conversation with Master Fu from earlier. "Tikki lead me to the Master who gave us our Miraculous due to her being sick. I have talked with him off and on by text since. He gave me the go ahead to transform. I don't know if he knew you were in the same class."

"Strange, I didn't know Kwami could get sick. I would have thought Plagg would have some side effect from all the cheese he eats." Adrien muttered.

The two looked back over the city, their thoughts finally overwhelming their conversation.

It was the city they lived in.

The city they protected.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Marinette sighed, "This weekend is going to be interesting."

Chat nodded, but didn't say anything and was surprised when Marinette continued. "But I don't think it will be bad. Like you said, they are our friends. And really, only Chloe, Alya, and Nino will have a grip. I mean, Chloe because she is in charge of everything, and Alya and Nino because they are our best friends."

"See, we can do it." Adrien said, before standing up on the strut. He tapped his staff on the metal, giving off a deep thud.

"I should get going." He said.

Marinette nodded, "Me too. See you in the morning, kitty cat."

He bowed to her, "And a pleasant evening to you, Princess."

/\/\/\/\/\

The next few days went well, all things considered. None of the teachers commented or even seemed to acknowledge that anything different had occurred during an attack. It was fairly surreal to be surrounded by a large group of people who acted no different, but then run into a friend who gave a weird look. The strangest was when one of them, would stop and stare.

It was not the strangest thing Marinette dealt with on a regular basis. After all, she would talk with a magical guardian who inhabited earrings to put on a skin tight bodysuit and fight monsters with a yo-yo. Anymore, if it wasn't weird, that was the strange thing.

In the meantime, Marinette had spent an evening finishing up her gifts. Really, insomnia could be such a blessing. Now she just needed the opportune moment to give them to her friends.

Still, it was good the weekend came quickly. Any longer and Alya would have forced her to talk personally. Either for the Ladyblog or as a friend. Still, her identify as Ladybug, and Adrien's as Chat Noir, did not make the news and nobody confronted them about it. Instead, the news focused on other important occurrences as well as local celebrities such as Jagged Stone. Not to mention the standard and frankly hilarious speculation.

And so, when Adrien came into her parent's bakery, Marinette smiled.

"Mind if I walk with you to where our friends are gathering?" He asked.

She held a hand over her mouth to hide a chuckle and her slightly flushed cheecks. "It is just across the street. But I would appreciate it. Mom, Dad, I am heading out for a few!"

"Alright, see you later dear," her mother called as the two teenagers made their way out of the store.

Marinette and Adrien walked together, close but not touching. Marinette had her hands clasped behind her back and Adrien had his tucked securely in his pockets. They didn't talk, everything that needed to be said had been said the other night.

Instead, Marinette focused on watching the park. It was beautiful. There were a number of trees around to give plenty of shade near the wrought iron fencing. In the middle of the park a large fountain was surrounded by benches.

Their friends were hanging out, waiting for the two of them and it looked like everyone was there. Nino and Alya were comparing things on their phones. Alix was skating around the fountain, slowly for her and to make sure not to run anyone over.

Mylene and Ivan were hugging on a park bench, while Nathanial sat against a tree doodling in his sketchpad. Le Chien Kim was doing pushups just on the grass, trying to pretend he wasn't interested in the group.

Juleka and Rose were standing shoulder to shoulder, talking about the fountain. Chloe was sitting on a bench by herself, with Sabrina standing behind her. Chloe was focused on sanding her nails while muttering mostly to herself. Max was leaning against the fountain, playing a handheld video game.

In all, it was less people than Marinette feared. It was so hard to remember who in their class was akumatized. Even Adrien had been caught once. Still, these were her friends and it had to go well. It would go well.

She sat down on the concrete of the fountain, Adrien taking a place next to her. She took a deep breath, noticing everyone was now focused on her. Nathanial had moved closer and Le Chien Kim had sat down next to Chloe.

"I guess I should start at the beginning." Marinette said.

Adrien smirked, "Just the highlights, otherwise it might be as well be a cartoon. And there is some stuff we just don't know."

Marinette rolled her eyes, "Thanks, Adrien, that helped I am sure. Now, for me it all seemed to start with a jewelry box in my bedroom that I had never seen before. . ."

"So yeah," Adrien finished, "We are trying to figure out who this Hawkmoth guy is to see if we cannot stop him and prevent more attacks."

Marinette, leaning forward slightly smiled, "I appreciate you all being kind enough not to interrupt. Do you have any questions, we would be happy to try and answer them."

Rose tentatively raised her hand, "Um,"

But before she could speak, Chloe interrupted. "So, like, why didn't you losers tell anyone? And more importantly, why were you chosen? I mean really, I would definitely make a better Ladybug than you."

Adrien smirked, knowing Chloe just wanted to have some attention on her this afternoon. "Well, you know my Father. There is no way he would allow me to be Chat Noir. It is too much, so I figured I should keep it quiet. If I was the only one who knew, then I wasn't breaking any rules or promises not to be Chat Noir."

"I think we were chosen for very specific reasons," Marinette said. "I mean, there is an older gentlemen who I have talked with a couple of times. He is the one who gave us our Miraculous. What he said is that it was our kindness and compassion that lead to him giving us Tikki and Plagg."

She paused, seeing Chloe snort. Continuing, Marinette spoke, "As for the other day, well I am Ladybug. It is my job to save Paris. I asked for help from the Master, but when he couldn't buy the time we needed, I did what I had to do. Honestly, it was and is terrifying to know that I am no longer just Marinette to you all. Now I am Ladybug, who happens to be Marinette and that scares me."

Chloe rolled her eyes and went back to her nails. Rose shot Chloe a look before asking her question. "You didn't mention wanting to revel yourselves. Was it something you wanted to do?"

"Yes," Marinette said, "I did, because you are my friends and because I want my parents to be proud of what I am doing. But I didn't because I am worried that anytime the city comes under attack my parents will freak out. The same for you all, I was concerned it would worry you immensely. Besides, Tikki told me it was against the rules to reveal it."

Adrien shrugged, "I have thought about telling Nino, but I don't want my father to know."

Juleka as the next, "Is it rough leading a double life?"

"Not really," Adrien said with a shrug. "I am a model, that was already like living a second life. This life, as Chat Noir. That is an adventure. I get to run around Paris and fight monsters. I get the freedom to act in a fun way and I get to spend time with all of you as Adrien. I wouldn't change it for the world."

Marinette sighed, "It is, like I said, I want parents to have the best and I am pretty sure that my parents would be worried sick if they knew. As for everything else, well, when there is a test the next day and an Akuma attacks at night it is hard. Or if there is an attack during school. It is fun and I love it, but at the same time, I don't know if I would have chosen it."

She paused, "I would say fighting monsters is rewarding but scary. I worry that I won't be able to act in time. That I can't save enough people. Lucky Charm does a lot, but I don't really know the extent of my powers."

Kim pipped up from next to Chloe. "Have you gotten stronger outside of the costumes?"

Marinette shrugged but Adrien nodded confidently, "I have seen the difference on my own body. It takes a lot to fight super villains and I am seeing it carry over a bit."

"Do you know your stats?" Max asked.

"As in Ultimate Mecha Strike III?" Marinette asked, at Max's nod she shrugged. "Not really, it doesn't carry over very well. I would say I have high flexibility, luck, planning, and strength."

"Flexibility and strength are up there for me too." Adrien said, "Also I take a lot of hits so durability and cataclysm is a devastating attack. Other than that, we just weren't told. We are figuring things out as we go."

Alix, skate tapping slightly, took her turn to ask a question. "How fast can you all go? I mean, I remember very little from when I was, yeah, but you two, you two get to run don't you?"

"I think we go about one and a half times as fast as normal. Not super fast, but definitely faster. Unless we are thrown." Adrien mused, "Getting thrown can be fun, if there is a soft landing zone. Concrete and metal is not fun."

Marinette just nodded, allowing Nathanial to ask his question. "Would you two be willing to pose for a painting as Ladybug and Chat Noir? I mean, for copies for the group here?"

"Of course," Adrien said, "If Marinette is okay with it. I would be happy to sign it as well."

"As long as identities are kept secret, it should be fine. Could I get a copy as well?" Marinette asked, rubbing the back of her head with a hand.

Nathanial grinned and nodded, "Next week? I don't have my painting supplies with me."

The two superheroes nodded as Sabrina spoke up as the group looked at her, bypassing Nino and Alya. "Um, well, I don't really have a question. I mean, it seems like you all are being superheroes and students and it is awesome. But, I mean, I just wanted to hear the story."

Chloe scoffed, "Really, two real deal superheros here and you don't have a question? I mean, you two mentioned Kwamis. Are there more than two? How long do you think it will take before you take down Hawkmoth? What if you don't do it before you have to move for some reason? How are you figuring out who that loser is? Are Ladybug and Chat Noir dating? What about Marinette and Adrien? How are you two working of figuring out other powers?"

Marinette held up her hand, "That is enough, Chloe. Sabrina, it is okay if you don't have a question now. If you decide you are curious about something later, just let us know, okay?"

The redhead nodded as Marinette focused on Chloe, "Now, you asked a lot of good questions, so I am going to answer them even if you were really rude in how you asked. Ladybug and Marinette are both single. I talk with my Kwami all the time. It seems like the magical abilities are limited based on the Kwami, not the user."

She paused, putting a hand to her pouch where Tikki was resting. "As for the Kwamis, I believe there are more. However, I have not met them. Apparently Hawkmoth has a Miraculous and Kwami too. As for finding him and defeating him, I don't have a timeframe. Because everything is at least one off, it is hard to track him down."

Adrien nodded, "Right, and remember Max asked about our stats. We are mostly frontline fighters. Ladybug comes up with the plans, but beyond that, we hit things. As for Chat Noir and Adrien, well both are single at the moment. Any other questions?"

Nino and Alya both raised their hands, Marinette smiled softly, "Why don't I take Alya for coffee and let you two boys catch up?"

"Works for me!" Nino said as Alya nodded.

Adrien looked at the rest of the group, noticing they were all pretty comfortable. "Then I guess that ends the question and answer session. But like Marinette said, if you have a question let us know privately. Otherwise, stay safe and see you in class."

He stood up, Marinette following his lead. The two started walking off with cheerful goodbyes and Nino and Alya followed, with Nino's arm around Alya's waist and her arm around his shoulder.

/\/\/\/\/\

"So, dudes, thanks for letting us ask some questions in private." Nino started.

Marinette grinned turning and leading the towards the river. "Yeah, well, you are our closest friends and you two deserve it."

Alys rolled her eyes, "So I know there are more Kwamis, but you don't have control over them, but I do have a couple other questions."

"Sure," Adrien agreed.

"Are you looking to identify people to be given Kwami? Are you actively seeking Hawkmoth? I want to help, how can I?"

Nino nodded, "Ditto man, I want to help out too. And I have another question, do you want to be superheroes fore ever or do you want to get out of the game sometime?"

"That is quite a lot. Honestly, I love being Ladybug, but I can see a day when that would be bad. I want to defeat Hawkmoth sooner rather than later, but for now, Keeping ahead of the attacks is the focus." Marinette paused, "I want to be Ladybug until Ladybug is no longer needed."

Adrien looked around, seeing them come upon a group of benches and leading them to sit down before answering for himself. "Chat Noir is freedom to me. That is not something I am willing to give up. I think that even should I hang up the superhero boots, I will still be Chat Noir. It may be hard now, but eventually there will not be a difference between Adrien and Chat Noir and I am looking forward to that day."

"Sounds good to me my dudes. If you all need like help or a pair of ears, I am here for you two." Nino said.

Alya smiled, "I am going to keep doing the Ladyblog."

"I want you to, it makes you so happy." Marinette said.

"But I have a bit of extra time. I will see if I can't track down this Hawkmoth for you. Marinette, why don't we get together tomorrow and talk over leads?"

"Sure thing Alya."

With that, the group split up, each going their own way. It was still a Saturday and their families were still at home.

/\/\/\/\/\

That night, Marinette, with Tikki next to her, sat on the rooftop patio above her room. She was soon joined by Adrien as Chat Noir, before he became himself along with Plagg.

Marinette smiled at him, "I think that went well."

The young man nodded, unable to respond.

The two superheroes let silence fall and looked out over the river towards the Eiffel Tower. It was comfortable, there had been so much said and while there could be so much more to say, for now nothing was pressing.

Surprisingly, it was Adrien who broke the silence. "I am not sure how much the others would recognize it, but this is what I am fighting for. The chance to be with a good friend and to enjoy Paris. It may be the most simple thing in the world, but at the same time, there is nothing quite like it."

Marinette chuckled, "I agree Kitty. It is fun and all to slay monsters and to fight for the world, but it is the small joys."

Again the pair fell silent, before Marinette said, "Give me a moment."

She ducked into her room. Adrien turned to watch the ships traveling down the river, each taking its time, deliberate and at the same time majestic. When Marinette returned, she handed him a large hat box.

"What is this for?" He asked taking it carefully.

"It is my thank you for being you. For being Chat and for being Adrien." Marinette said.

Adrien took the lid off and pulled out the material. Marinette scuffed her feet, "Sorry for the box, it was the best I could do on short notice."

Adrien didn't respond, he was holding a light hoodie. By light, it was a type of fabric he could get away with wearing most days. Instead of a black, it was a grey with green highlights. He could tell the buttons were chosen specifically because they looked like cat paws. It was subtle, but still.

The hood had a bit of a peak to the front. All in all, it was gorgeous.

"This is amazing, thank you." Adrien said.

Marinette smiled, taking the box and putting it on a nearby table. Adrien took off his over shirt and carefully put it down on the fence. He then pulled on the new hoodie. The fit was amazing, just a bit big in all respects so he could wear it for a long time. Nothing noticeable, but just enough for growth. The hood pulled far enough over his head that from any direction, it wasn't obvious who he was.

Tikki covertly gave Marinette a thumbs up.

Adrien smiled, brighter than at nearly any time that day. He gave her a big, quick hug. "This is amazing. Thank you so much. Marinette, you are the best. An everyday Ladybug is wrong. You are so much more than just Ladybug."

He stepped back, looking at his watch briefly. "I would love to hang here with you longer, but I have an early photo shoot. See you Monday."

"Monday."

A second later, Chat Noir was leaping away over the Paris rooftops and Marinette was heading back inside. After all, she is Marinette and she is Ladybug.


End file.
